[flizzystyle]

Hi.
I am a life long music lover in the market for a pair of headphones.  Upon researching many positive reviews, I purchased a monoprice pair of headphones and really like them, but I have been looking for another, more serious pair of closed over the ear headphones that I can listen to at home.  In stores, I have tested and liked beats studio and bose qc15 headphones, but figured that I could find a better sounding pair of headphones without paying for those companies' names in my $200-300 dollar range.  I am primarily looking to use these headphones for listening to old vinyls, my ipod, and some movies/tv.  My music tastes are primarily in pop/country/rock/metal, but can range into hip hop, jazz, and classical.  I do not like music too "bass heavy" and enjoy being able to pinpoint the individual components of a song; I enjoy clarity for my headphones.  So, I would factor sound quality above all, but do not want something that will leak too much (both in others hearing what I am listening to or hearing ambient noise in the headphones).  From reviews online, it seems that sennheisers are well received in the community in a more proportional way to their quality compared to beats and bose, and I have been looking at the momentums over ear and hd598.  I like the idea of the pxc450 for noise canceling, but do not want to sacrifice sound quality for noise canceling, which I may or may not use.  I also have looked at the rs180's, but it appears i would sacrifice sound quality for wirelessness.  Beyerdynamics are another brand that I have looked at, but was not sure what model best suited my music preferences.  Do any of you have any suggestions from within some of these options or from other cans that would better fit my musical taste?
 
thank you very much

 

[Boochie]

Some suggestions:
 
1) Beyerdynamics DT 770
2) Sony MDR 7506 / MDR-V6
3) Beyerdynamic DT 880
4) Beyerdynamic DT 990
5) Sennheiser HD 598/558 or really anything in the 500 series
6) Sennheiser HD 600

 

[flizzystyle]

thank you.  On that note, how big of a factor does impedance play in sound quality.  Is there really a noticeable gain in sound quality in getting the 250 or 600 ohm versions?  I like the potential of playing music on my ipod with the 32 or 80 ohm versions, but I assume i could still listen to music on my home receiver and computer while experiencing the high quality sound.  So how big of a factor is it and if so, could i buy an amplifier if i really wanted to listen to it on my ipod?

 

[Boochie]

  thank you.  On that note, how big of a factor does impedance play in sound quality.  Is there really a noticeable gain in sound quality in getting the 250 or 600 ohm versions?  I like the potential of playing music on my ipod with the 32 or 80 ohm versions, but I assume i could still listen to music on my home receiver and computer while experiencing the high quality sound.  So how big of a factor is it and if so, could i buy an amplifier if i really wanted to listen to it on my ipod?

Oh boy, you shouldn't have asked that question........
 
Just kidding but there is a lot of debate on that topic.  I'm not an expert but I will say that if you plan to listen alot on your portable device, choose the 32 or 80 ohm version.  From what I understand, properly amped, the higher the ohm, the more volume you should expect. I'm sure others may chime in that can provide more insight on the subject than I can.
 
In general, the higher the ohm, the more amplification you will need to get the best out of the headphones.

 

[flizzystyle]

thanks for your help.  
I will have to check out the beyerdynamic dts, sonys, and the senns.